


The Last Dogfight

by Peranska



Series: Revolt on Antares Collection [1]
Category: Revolt on Antares (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Board Games, Gen, I don't actually want to look up what a space opera is, Military Science Fiction, My First AO3 Post, Science Fiction, Space Opera, War, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peranska/pseuds/Peranska
Summary: In the distant future, the human colony of Antares 9 rebels against its Imperial overlords. Amidst the chaos of one battle, two of the war's greatest mercenaries go head to head. A destructive finale, with hollow results.
Series: Revolt on Antares Collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947694





	The Last Dogfight

**Author's Note:**

> Revolt on Antares is a microgame from TSR, released in 1981, heavily influenced by the sci fi of the time. It's one of their more iconic minor products, but I don't think it's very well known.
> 
> I've always had a soft spot for it, and I ended up creating my own version of the universe the more I thought about it. This story is set in the middle of the overall collection of ideas I have, but it's the first one I've written out.
> 
> This really seems like a weird idea to me, but I'm pretty certain you're allowed to write fanfic of whatever you want. I hope you like it.
> 
> More to come soon, I hope.

Coordinator Mai had been speaking to dead air for the last five minutes.

“Kid, pull out now! We can’t hold that front.”

The line crackled, filled with the telltale rumble of the distant battle, but the Kid remained silent. Mai looked at the screens flashing in front of him, taking in a few new adjustments. The gradual collapse of the city’s defenses was unfolding just as it had moments before. He focused on the one tiny blip that was, defiantly, refusing to turn around. He slammed his fist on the console.

“Damnit, Kid, please,” he stared at the swarms of lights flooding the screens. “It’s over.”

General Star swiveled his chair about to face him.

“Coordinator, report.”

Mai froze, hand on his headset. He held the other up for silence. A few heads turned in the small war room.

“There’s nothing left. It’s just her and me.” There was a pause. Mai connected the line to the overhead speakers. With a whine, an uncharacteristically monotone voice filled the room. “I have to finish this. Nothing left.” In the background, the jet’s engine roared to life, contrasting the voice’s strange blankness. The blip on the screen ripped past the fallback line. “This is Null Squadron, engaging enemy fighter. She’s not getting away.”

“It’s the Nullspace Kid, sir. He’s defying orders to withdraw.” Mai looked back at General Star, who was bent forward intently.

“Situation?”

“Total wipe, engaging an enemy ace, Starfire, and her team. Every pilot’s pinging KIA, except the two of them.”

Star flicked a hand. “Ensign, main screen.”

The battlemap of Schenet flared up. A few other coordinators looked over. The general nodded, marking a few lines in the air with his finger. He bit his thumb thoughtfully.

“Sector 13 C. Fitzgerald-Terran push, awaiting reinforcements. Mixed retreat, urban engagement. Unknown enemy composition.” He glanced at Mai. “Nasty situation. Show me Starfire.”

Mai marked out one of the quadrants on his computer. The main screen zoomed in on a cross section of the city, where a white triangle zipped between buildings and collapsed bridges. Dozens of green dots blinked out as it soared overhead, completing pass after pass. The general went back to gnawing at his thumb. The numbers in Schenet continued to drop. Mai spun around to watch the larger image.

A blue light tore across the map, chasing Starfire like a mad dog. The callsign “NS-1” flashed up.

Star leapt to his feet. Mai jerked back to his console.

“Get me live video, now!”

Lyra Starfire was slammed back against her seat, straining against the pressure to maintain control of her airjet. She could hear the strain of engines, the shriek of the wind against the cockpit. Somewhere nearby, an explosion thudded, and the fuselage around her rattled like a cage. Above everything else, she could hear the incessant beeping of the radar, as a single dot matched her every move.

She pushed down, almost scraping the underside of a bridge. Without warning, she twisted to the right, curving around a skyscraper. She swept into a wide residential district, filled with tall, shell-shattered ruins. Her pursuer blasted past, missing the turn entirely. The blue jet made a wide turn, coming around to head straight for her side.

She barely pushed down in time. Bursts of flame shot over her as she dove into the heart of the ruined district. The beeping increased. The other plane was barely a hundred feet behind her.

The Kid couldn’t blink. His eyes flicked around constantly, taking in every detail. The buildings flew past in an instant, barely enough for him to register a few fleeting lights still on, here and there. Starfire’s green plane flailed around so much it was impossible to believe she was flying so fast. He mimicked every movement, lining up his sights just right, only to lose her immediately, over and over.

He was getting closer. And closer. And closer. He could feel his skin pulled back by the force of constant acceleration. The sides of his mouth were splitting and bleeding. With a desperate pull, he soared up over a bridge, then came back down with her dead to rights. His empty expression didn’t change.

From his nest on the forty-third floor of the Keller building, Corporal Reeves could survey the entire street beneath him. He peered through his scope, taking in each corner and alley in turn. Carefully, he marked enemy positions and reinforcement zones, following every movement with devotion. His eyes drifted down. Two figures, loading a mortar. They were crouched behind a hastily erected wall of sandbags, facing the exact wrong way.

Reeves shook his head, almost laughing for a moment. He lined up the shot. The two soldiers were shouting at each other, staring at some scrap of paper. He took the time to refine his math, and adjusted slightly. They were both looking at something further down the street. One pointed, and both their heads tracked some unseen object, traveling overhead. He started to squeeze the trigger.

A blast of air rattled the nest, throwing his notes into a whirlwind. The rifle swept out of alignment, and the shot went wild. With a dumbfounded expression, Reeves leaned out of the window, following the sound of a jet gone wild.

He never heard the rocket coming.

Two missiles were locked on to her. She brought herself as low as she dared, barely coasting over the piled rubble and barricades of a brutal and catastrophic siege. Below, on the streets of the city, tens of thousands of soldiers were locked together. Even with the retreat, hundreds of enemy positions remained, needing to be ferreted out. With the unbelievable horror on her tail, Starfire struggled to remember her original mission. She took a turn at random, one wing ripping through the remnants of a department store. The missiles took the turn as well, inching closer.

Above them all, like a warrior angel from the old stories, the Nullspace Kid followed. He could be no one else. No one flew like that. She looked down at her shaking hands, felt the crushing weight of her speed and the stab of snapped ribs. As the last overpass fell behind her, she could see her cover slipping away. The shelling ahead was impassible; the clouds of dust and fire swelled up thousands of feet into the air. 

The only way out was up.

With a growing sense of exultation, he watched her approach the wall of destruction. The missiles were on target. He knew what she would try. It was exactly what he would do. He aimed up, waiting for her to make her move. His knuckles were already white, but he tightened his grip anyways. He could feel his bones protesting his every move. Just a little longer.

The Kid’s thoughts raced. He knew, he really knew, somewhere, deep down, that he should slow down. He had to be sure. He had to make this shot. But.

He had never gone this fast. No one had ever gone this fast. It drilled into his head, bringing up years of memories. He remembered bright smiles, loud voices. He remembered victory, glory, joy. He remembered screams, and fire. He remembered pride. 

He wanted to see her face as she died. The lever pushed down one final notch. The jet lurched forward again, and another anvil was added to the weight on his chest.

Then, Starfire vanished.

She pulled the emergency stop. The engines cut, and suddenly she was coasting on momentum alone. She slipped forward with a jerk, pulled taut against the straps. She gasped for breath. Her organs tried to slip back into place, and it took every effort she had to keep from blacking out. The missiles roared past. The next moment, so did he.

She slammed the engines back into life, pulled the stick back as far as it would go. The jet climbed like a rocket, shoving her back into the seat again. The pain increased as she climbed. Higher. Higher. Higher. She crested past the top of the highest building still standing. With one final effort, she fought against her momentum, leaning back into a loop.

She came up behind him, just barely outpacing the blue jet. She fired.

The missiles impacted against the cloud, adding to the mess of explosions within. The Nullspace Kid darted his head around, searching everywhere. Barely able to move his hand, he flicked open the channel to command.

“Where is she?” No one replied. His radar was completely silent. He blinked.

His world was consumed in fire.

Lyra Starfire hauled herself out of a suspension of wires and straps, dangling from a half-intact plane jammed into the side of a tower. The floor beneath her was still mostly intact, but she was still dragging her broken body across thousands of shards of broken glass and twisted shrapnel. Gasping for air, she leaned against the wall and stuck her head out of the hole her wreckage had left.

The city was silent. The shelling had ceased, and only the smoke of fire and the haze of strange gases remained. Homeward, giant columns of soldiers were leaving the city, while the immense shadows of surviving air squadrons fled into the distance. She turned to see the other army. They were doing the same.

From beyond the edge of her vision, a dazzling, enormous light emerged. It burned towards her, towards the city. It was like a star, unleashed on the world; whatever it touched, vanished in a brilliant flash. It grew brighter and brighter, closer and closer.

Within moments, everything was gone.


End file.
